Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Feb 27: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court has extended anticipatory bail provisions to offences under the Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act and the Customs Act, allowing individuals to seek pre-arrest bail even before an FIR is registered.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, along with Justices M.M. Sundresh and Bela Trivedi, ruled that the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) will apply to arrests under these tax laws. The court emphasized that arrests under the GST Act should only occur in serious cases of tax evasion or fraud exceeding specified monetary limits and must be backed by credible evidence.

The bench reaffirmed that the fundamental safeguards under Articles 21 and 22 of the Constitution cannot be compromised during arrests under the GST and Customs Acts. It also overruled an earlier judgment in State of Gujarat vs. Choodamani Parmeshwaran Iyer, which had upheld the government's power to arrest under the GST Act without High Court interference.

The verdict was delivered in response to multiple petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Sections 69 and 70 of the GST Act, with the main petition filed by Radhika Agarwal in 2018. The ruling marks a crucial step in aligning tax-related arrests with broader criminal procedure safeguards.